A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to being a volunteer organization tasked with search and rescue without law enforcement authority. In most countries, a typical coast guard's functions are distinct from those of the navy and the transit police, while in certain countries they have similarities to both.
Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. In wartime operations, the military police may support the main fighting force with force protection, convoy security, screening, rear reconnaissance, logistic traffic management, counterinsurgency, and detainee handling.
A gendarmerie is a military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term gendarme is derived from the medieval French expression gens d'armes, which translates to "men-at-arms". In France and some Francophone nations, the gendarmerie is a branch of the armed forces that is responsible for internal security in parts of the territory, with additional duties as military police for the armed forces. It was introduced to several other Western European countries during the Napoleonic conquests. In the mid-twentieth century, a number of former French mandates and colonial possessions adopted a gendarmerie after independence.
In some militaries, foot guards are senior infantry regiments. Foot guards are commonly responsible for guarding royal families or other state leaders, and they also often perform ceremonial duties accordingly, but at the same time are combat soldiers.
Guard mounting, changing the guard, or the changing of the guard, is a formal ceremony in which sentries performing ceremonial guard duties at important institutions are relieved by a new batch of sentries. The ceremonies are often elaborate and precisely choreographed. They originated with peacetime and battlefield military drills introduced to enhance unit cohesion and effectiveness in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
The King's Guard are sentry postings at Buckingham Palace and St James's Palace, organised by the British Army's Household Division. The Household Division also mounts sentry postings at Horse Guards, known as the King's Life Guard.
The Canadian Forces Military Police provide police, security and operational support services to the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and the Department of National Defence (DND) worldwide.
Public duties are performed by military personnel, and usually have a ceremonial or historic significance rather than an overtly operational role.
The Belgian Royal Escort is a horse- and motorcycle-mounted unit that accompanies the Belgian monarch on ceremonial occasions. It also provides escorts for foreign visiting heads of state and ambassadors presenting their credentials at the Royal Palace in Brussels.
A guard of honour, honor guard or ceremonial guard, is a group of people, typically drawn from the military, appointed to perform ceremonial duties – for example, to receive or guard a head of state or other dignitaries, the fallen in war, or to attend at state ceremonials, especially funerals. In military weddings, especially those of commissioned officers, a guard, composed usually of service members of the same branch, form the sabre arch. In principle, any military unit could act as a guard of honour. In some countries, certain units are specially assigned to undertake guard of honour postings or other public duties. Republican guards, royal guards and foot guards frequently have ceremonial duties assigned to them.
Law enforcement in Belgium is conducted by an integrated police service structured on the federal and local levels, made up of the Federal Police and the Local Police. Both forces are autonomous and subordinate to different authorities, but linked in regard to reciprocal support, recruitment, manpower mobility and common training.
Airport police units are a security police agency assigned to perform law enforcement functions at airports. They provide a wide range of law enforcement duties and responsibilities including patrol, investigation, traffic flow management, and control and response to airport emergencies. Airport police provide enhanced safety to airport employees, and to passengers. Officers can be found at security gates, throughout the terminal area, and around the airport’s perimeter.
The Belgian Federal Police is the national police force of the Kingdom of Belgium. It carries out specialized and supra-local administrative and judicial police operations, and supports local police services when needed. Additionally, the Federal Police is responsible for patrolling and ensuring the safety of the country's highways. The Federal Police has approximately 12,300 officers and civilian personnel.
The 211th Military Police Battalion is a unit of the Massachusetts Army National Guard. Its Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment is descended from the First Corps of Cadets, initially formed in 1741. It is one of several National Guard units with colonial roots. Its motto is Monstrat Viam – "It Points the Way." While it has served in five wars, the sub-unit's primary contribution to Massachusetts and to the United States was as an officer-producing institution for new regiments from the Revolutionary War through World War II.
The 117th Military Police Battalion Combat Support (CS), is a military police battalion of the Tennessee Army National Guard (TNARNG) and the United States Army Military Police Corps with its headquarters located in Athens, Tennessee. When not mobilized or deployed, the 117th MP BN is task organized as a subordinate battalion of the Tennessee Army National Guard's 194th Engineer Brigade located in Jackson, Tennessee.
The Michael the Brave 30th Guards Brigade is a primarily ceremonial, as well as combat unit of the Romanian Armed Forces established in 1990. The Brigade also has a military music band, a drill team detachment, and an artillery battery. The military police unit of the Brigade guards certain special objectives of Bucharest. The Brigade traces its origins to the 1st Tirailleur Battalion, later Vânători Battalion, which was established in 1860.
The Royal Security Command is the king of Thailand's military household and is part of Thailand's royal court administration. It exercises command and control over the military units that are engaged full-time in the protection and guarding of the king and his family as well as the various Royal palaces of Thailand.
